1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrical fast cookers, and more particularly to a portable electric cooking apparatus selectively operated by either a D.C. or A.C. electrical power source and having hinged heating plates configured to form a cooking chamber when closed and to receive interchangeable mating cooking vessels for cooking a variety of foods.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Outdoor cooking grows increasingly popular each year. Many people prepare meals while traveling on vacation and while boating and camping outdoors. Most outdoor cooking is done on a charcoal grill which can pollute the air, or on a gas grill which can be a safety hazard. Many sports fans cook in parking lots at sports stadiums prior to an event in popular xe2x80x9ctailgate partiesxe2x80x9d. Tailgate parties have become so popular that many stadiums now prohibit the use of charcoal and gas grills because of the pollution safety hazards and mess. Conventional charcoal and gas grills are also somewhat limited in the types of foods that can be prepared.
Thus, there exists a need for a small portable cooker capable of being selectively operated by conventional A.C. power or D.C. power supplied by an auxiliary battery, a vehicle or boat battery, a battery charger, or a heavy duty electrical circuit in a vehicle or boat. There is also a need for a small portable cooker that is wide ranging in its usefulness in cooking a variety of foods including sandwiches, meat, poultry, irregular shaped foods, and frozen TV dinners and for carrying out nearly all cooking requirements such as grilling, broiling, frying, baking, toasting, boiling, steaming, and pressure cooking, etc. There is also a need for a fast cooker which will cook various different types of foods at the same time.
Electrical fast cookers having a pair of hinged heating plates that can be superposed for quickly cooking hamburgers, sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, and the like, are known in the art. Prior art cookers of this type are usually powered only by common household 120V alternating current (A.C.), and are not capable of operating on direct current (D.C.) or D.C. battery power. The superposed heating plates of most prior art cookers directly contact the top and bottom surfaces of the food being cooked, thus, the types of foods and meals that can be prepared is limited.
Levin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,431 discloses an electric fast cooking appliance for cooking hamburgers and sandwiches which has a single heating element and a reversible grill having cooking surfaces of various configurations on opposite sides. Both sides of the reversible grill have grooves adapted to receive, in heat exchange relation, a heated rib depending from the downwardly directed cooking surface of the unit cover.
Thelander, U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,418 discloses an electric cooking appliance adapted for cooking a particular food, product called a xe2x80x9cjafflexe2x80x9d (two slices of bread with filling between, the bread slices being compressed and sealed around the edges and then toasted). The appliance has a hinged upper and lower cooking plate each with a series of concavities surrounded by a circular rim and a cutting bead which cooperate when the plates are closed to compress the bread and filling, cut away the excess bread, and seal the bread slices together.
Coppier, U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,313 discloses an electric cooking appliance for toasting food which has two cooking plates hinged together. Each cooking plate is constructed of diestamped sheet metal and is attached to a sheet metal support plate that forms a heat reflector.
Boehm et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,905 discloses a cooking device that has a lower cooking plate positioned at an angle to the horizontal plane of the device with grilling members supported in heat conducting relation and an upper cooking plate movable to a closed position forming a cooking chamber to restrain the escape of vapors. In one embodiment, the device includes a collecting tray positioned beneath a downwardly extending portion of the lower cooking plate with opening through which liquids emitted from the foodstuffs during cooking can be removed, and into which the foodstuffs after cooking can be collected for removal from the device.
My previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,986, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a portable multi-purpose electric fast cooking apparatus with mating cooking vessels for cooking a variety of foods wherein the cooker has a pair of hinged pan-shaped housing members that carry metallic heating plates. The heating plates each have an outward facing side with a central depressed flat surface surrounded by a raised side wall and shoulder at the top thereof which, in a closed position, define a central food cooking cavity. In an open position, the heating plates are positioned in laterally adjacent relation and the depressed flat surface, raised side wall, and shoulder of each heating plate define a mounting surface for removably receiving and supporting various cooking vessels having a bottom portion configured to mate therewith in highly efficient heat transfer relation.
Most of the prior art hinged type cooking devices operate on conventional household 120V A.C. power and do not provide a high capacity D.C. electrical heating element or circuitry capable of producing sufficient wattage to cook foods. They are also limited in that they only are used in a closed position and the temperature of the cooking surfaces are not individually controlled and only one type of food can be cooked at a time. Prior art D.C. powered devices such as bottle warmers, utilize small dry cell batteries and are also not capable of producing sufficient wattage to cook foods.
There are also numerous D.C. heaters and warmers in the prior art that are provided with a cigarette lighter jack or plug that receive power from the cigarette lighter circuit in a vehicle. However, these types of devices are not capable of producing sufficient wattage to cook foods because conventional cigarette lighter electrical circuits utilize low amperage wiring. If a D.C. cooking apparatus, such as the present invention, having a pair of D.C. electrical heating elements each with a heat output rating in the range of from about 150 watts to about 200 watts were plugged into a conventional cigarette lighter receptacle, it would destroy or severely damage the existing wiring of the cigarette lighter circuit.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a combination electric cooking apparatus capable of being selectively operated by either a D.C. or A.C. electrical power source for cooking a variety of foods. The apparatus includes a pair of hinged pan-shaped housing members which can be pivoted between a closed position superposed one above the other in opposed facing relation and an open position laterally adjacent one another. A heating plate is carried by each housing member and each plate has a central recessed flat surface surrounded by a raised side wall and a D.C. and an A.C. heating element secured to its underside, each heating element individually controlled by a separate thermostat. In the closed position, the recessed flat surfaces and raised side walls form a central cavity. In the open position, the recessed flat surface and side wall of each plate serve as a mounting surface to receive cooking vessels having mating bottoms. D.C. power may be supplied by an auxiliary battery, a vehicle battery, or a battery charger. Another aspect of the invention is a D.C. electric cooking system for vehicles and boats which are provided with an auxiliary heavy duty D.C. electrical circuit and receptacle for powering the cooker and other high wattage D.C. appliances.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable combination D.C. and A.C. electric cooking apparatus that can be selectively operated by conventional A.C. power or D.C. power sources.
It is another object of this invention to provide a portable D.C. and A.C. electric cooking apparatus capable of being powered by an auxiliary battery, a vehicle or boat battery, a battery charger, or a heavy duty electrical circuit in a vehicle or boat, in addition to conventional 120V A.C power.
Another object of this invention is to provide a combination D.C. and A.C. electric cooking apparatus that is small and portable, and occupies a small amount of space which is particularly useful for traveling on vacation, boating and camping outdoors, and tailgate parties.
Another object of this invention is to provide a D.C. electric cooking system for vehicles and boats that includes an auxiliary heavy duty D.C. electrical circuit and receptacle for powering the cooker and other high wattage D.C. appliances.
Another object of this invention to provide a combination D.C. and A.C. electric cooking apparatus having a pair of individually controlled hinged heating plates adapted to receive interchangeable cooking vessels which can be employed in various combinations for cooking a wide variety of foods at the same time.
A further object of this invention is to provide a combination D.C. and A.C. electric cooking apparatus having heating plates with a recessed surface adapted to receive and support interchangeable cooking vessels having bottom portions that cooperate with the heating plate in a highly efficient heat transfer relation.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a portable multi-purpose electric fast cooking apparatus which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and attractive in appearance.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification and claims as hereinafter related.
The above noted objects and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a combination electric cooking apparatus capable of being selectively operated by either a D.C. or A.C. electrical power source for cooking a variety of foods. The apparatus includes a pair of hinged pan-shaped housing members which can be pivoted between a closed position superposed one above the other in opposed facing relation and an open position laterally adjacent one another. A heating plate is carried by each housing member and each plate has a central recessed flat surface surrounded by a raised side wall and a D.C. and an A.C. heating element secured to its underside, each heating element individually controlled by a separate thermostat. In the closed position, the recessed flat surfaces and raised side walls form a central cavity. In the open position, the recessed flat surface and side wall of each plate serve as a mounting surface to receive cooking vessels having mating bottoms. D.C. power may be supplied by an auxiliary battery, a vehicle battery, or a battery charger. Another aspect of the invention is a D.C. electric cooking system for vehicles and boats which are provided with an auxiliary heavy duty D.C. electrical circuit and receptacle for powering the cooker and other high wattage D.C. appliances.